It was your own imagination that put the pieces together around 11:30 or so, long past bedtime, shortly after the Islanders somehow blew a 3-0 third-period lead: Jude Drouin winning the overtime faceoff, pushing the puck to defenseman Bert Marshall, who slid it to his blue-line partner Dave Lewis, who dumped it into the Rangers’ zone.

The New York Rangers have already destroyed their own season. On Thursday, they took the New York Islanders down with them. The two New York teams have not really dignified themselves this year. We’ve catalogued it all,

Rookie Brett Berard had his first career two-goal game for the visiting New York Rangers, who remained mathematically alive in the Eastern Conference wild-card race while all but ending the New York Islanders' playoff hopes with a 9-2 win on Thursday in Elmont,